1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a belt cleaner and, in particular, to a V-plow belt cleaner that can be flipped over.
2. Description of Related Art
Belt cleaners of many types and kinds are employed to remove material from moving conveyor belts, and among those belt cleaners are conventional V-plow belt cleaners. V-plow belt cleaners have a cleaning element that is angled in the shape of a letter “V” and are placed on the clean return side of a conveyor belt with the apex of the “V” facing the direction from which the belt moves material towards the V-plow cleaner. As a result, as the movement of the conveyor belt moves material towards the V-plow belt cleaner, the carried material is moved to and falls from both edges of the conveyor belt. Typically, a V-plow belt cleaner presses against the conveyor belt by the action of gravity upon the weight of the belt cleaner.
As with all belt cleaners, the cleaning elements of V-plow belt cleaners wear due to abrasion with the conveyor belt and the material carried thereon. For practical as well as safety reasons, the entire conveyor must be shut down so that workers can safely access the belt cleaner and replace the worn cleaning element thereof, thereby causing loss of production. With conventional belt cleaners, the conveyor must be shut down and the cleaning element replacement process must be performed each time any cleaning element (and there may be plural belt cleaners having plural cleaning elements for a typical conveyor) wears to the point of needing to be replaced.
Because belt cleaners may be intended for use with relatively wide conveyor belts, e.g., conveyor belts having widths of about 18 inches up to about 96 inches (about 46 cm to about 244 cm), the belt cleaners therefor can be relatively large and heavy, and so it can be difficult and time consuming to remove worn cleaning elements and to install fresh cleaning elements. Often, the replacement of cleaning elements requires removal of the complete belt cleaner and replacement of the worn cleaning elements off-line, if not transport of the belt cleaner to a facility separated from the conveyor system, whereby the conveyor belt must be stopped for a considerable time, thereby causing loss of production.
Inventors believe that there is a need for a belt cleaner, e.g., a V-plow belt cleaner, which could reduce the time and effort required to replace worn cleaning elements. It would also be desirable if fewer items of cleaning element were required, thereby possibly reducing the inventory and/or cost of replacement cleaning elements.
All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.